I havenāt updated my blog in, oh, about three thousand years. I may be the worst blogger ever. To say thereās been a lot going on feels like a giant understatement. Iāll skip most of it because itās nothing remotely glamorous or cool, BUT⦠the cool part is that we did open up a One Lucky Duck in Chelsea Market! We had a bit of a false start and thereās a story there but Iāll save it for another post. The first time around there was a bit of a bump in the road, or⦠two really big bumps. If I were to write a memoir chapter on this episode some day, it would be titled āOne Lucky Duck and Two Fat F*%ksā. Pardon my French. But, this time weāre running the show and open for good. J I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chelsea Market! If you havenāt been there, go now!
Whether youāre at Chelsea Market or at 17th street One Lucky Duck or sitting at Pure Food and Wine (which is now open for lunch too⦠one lucky duck menu 12-3pm), you can order one of these Valentineās shakes. Truth be told (which I have a habit of doing) Iām not much of a shake person. I usually prefer to chew my food. But this oneās different⦠I think itās the special ingredients. Lucuma, Yacon, Maca! Theyāre āadaptogensā which are supposed to be good for your hormones and mine have been raging these days so I think this shake makes me feel better. Plus, if I may say so myself, itās damn tasty. I was never a huge fan of maca before. But it works here along with the yacon and lucuma. All blended into thisĀ Chocolate Covered Strawberry shake. Sorry for the sucky photo… I don’t have access to better ones at the moment, this was a quickie from an iPhone in the kitchen. I’ll add more pix later!
So I was feeling really brilliant when I came up with this, in part because Iāve been so busy I havenāt made up anything new in forever, and also because these special ingredients just happen to be really good for Valentineās Day. And they ended up working really well in a strawberry and chocolate context, also very Valentineās Day appropriate. You can make this shake using either coconut water, or cashew milk, or some of both. I like some of both. If you donāt want to make cashew milk by soaking and blending the nuts, you can always make really fast cashew milk using cashew butter. Put a heaping tablespoon in the blender and add a cup or two of water and blend. Easy.
Iāll post the recipe below, and some info on maca, yacon, and lucuma (wonder foods!). But first, a note on Valentineās Day. Iām going to regurgitate a paragraph from a post I wrote a few years ago (click here to read the full post). (I just noticed that in the beginning of that post, I open with guess what? An apology for not having posted in ages!) Anyway. I babble about how much Valentineās Day can suck, with all the expectation that comes with it, or for some, the feeling of loneliness. But Iām really much more optimistic than that. Anyway. For inquiring minds that want to know, I had a Valentine three years ago when I wrote that blog, and I have the same one this year and am feeling very lucky.
Though, it’s Valentine’s night and he’s fast asleep on the couch right now.
Karen here at the Duck posted the paragraph in a newsletter and the response was so sweet so will put it again at the end of all this.
One to the wonder foods.
Whatās so great about Maca? Itās a Peruvian root and tastes sort of like malted butterscotch. Itās supposed to increase energy, endurance, physical strength, and libido. Apparently, ancient Incan warrior soldiers would consume this precious root before battle to make them fiercely strong, but then were prohibited from taking it while in the city in order to protect women from their heightened sexual appetite. (Iām wondering why they all just didnāt eat maca and get it on?). Being an adaptogen (like ginseng) itās supposed to balance your hormones and so enhance your ability to handle stress. Thereās another reason for me to drink lots of these shakes. Also, itās high in calcium, B1, and B12. Also good for PMS! Hooray!
And Yacon and Lucuma? I only recently discovered how much I love these. I didnāt get to put any recipes using them (or maca ) in my last book. I only mentioned them, with a little bit of info. And I think I said that if I had pet hamsters Iād name them Yacon and Lucuma. Iām surprised my editor/publisher didnāt strike that sentence. Aside from cute pet names, Yacon and Lucuma are two more Peruvian super yum foods. One fruit, one root. The fruit lucuma (also known as egg fruit) has dry flesh with a sort of maple-y sweet potato-y flavor and is incredibly low glycemic. Itās highly nutritious with lots of beta carotene, iron, B2 and B1. Itās mildly sweet but works really well in certain fruit shakes. Iām definitely going to work on a lot more shakes using lucuma.
Yacon is a tuber (root veg), also incredibly low glycemic (some say non glycemic) and itās said to be a good digestive aid and also to help with nutrient absorption and weight loss, and, because it helps balance your hormones, is good for fertility. The sweetness in Yacon comes from a complex sugar that breaks down into, get this, fructooligosacharide. Or, FOS. Itās a special type of fructose that the human body canāt absorb and so it leaves the body undigested. This is why itās so good for diabetics. It also contains only about half the calories of other sugar sources. Finally, the FOS promotes the production of healthy probiotics, which is how it helps your digestion. Screw Activia, just use lots of Yacon. Beware however, it has a very rich molasses-y flavor.
On to the recipe:
Chocolate Covered Strawberry
For 2
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup frozen banana
1½ cups coconut water
1½ cups cashew milk (OR, 3 cups of either one)
2 heaping tablespoons yacon powder
2 heaping tablespoons lucuma powder
1 heaping tablepsoon maca powder
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons agave nectar or pinch stevia (optional, if you like it extra sweet)
Pinch Himalayan sea salt
1 heaping tablespoon cacao powder (add for second half)
Put all the ingredients except the cocoa powder in the blender and blend. If itās too thick add more coconut water or cashew milk. Taste and add agave or stevia if you want it sweeter (or, more lucuma). Fill two glasses halfway, using about half of whatās in the blender.
Add the cocoa powder to the remaining shake in the blender and blend. (add cacao nibs too if you like those in your shakes). Top off the glasses with the chocolate. It helps if you pour it gently around the inside perimeter of the glass (otherwise it will just fall straight down in the center and you wonāt get the pretty layers). Put a raspberry or strawberry on top and sprinkle w/ cacao nibs. YUM.
Because we love these ingredients, for a little while weāre having a special on yacon, lucuma, and maca⦠you can get all three at a reduced cost, online only. You can also get them all individually in our juice bar on 17th street (and I’m adding them to Chelsea Market shop this week!)
Okay, finally, hereās that last paragraph, potentially really sappy, from my years ago Valentineās Day blog.
When youāre in love, make sure you love that person for who they are, not what they do for you, or what you want them to be, or do, or how you want them to make you feel.Ā Love without expectations.Ā Love without worrying so much about the future.Ā It feels really good that way.Ā And love all the people around you out of compassion.Ā Love people who donāt know better.Ā Love even people who are not nice to others, because those people are probably in pain.Ā Find a way to fill yourself up and feel secure enough to open your heart.Ā Thatās when the good stuff happens.Ā Love makes the world revolve.Ā Put it out there and it comes back to you.Ā And it feels nice.Ā Happy Valentineās Day.
xo Sarma









